by DES MOINES, Iowa – The Westchester Knicks (10-38), the official NBA Development League affiliate of the New York Knickerbockers, suffered a defeat in Des Moines tonight, falling to the Iowa Energy (25-23), the Memphis Grizzlies’ affiliate, by a score of 102-87.
The first two minutes of the game almost went scoreless, until Knicks guard Walker Russell Jr. was able to put Westchester on the board with 10:09 on the clock. Iowa put up three points with 9:30to go in the first, and the Energy heated up from there. Going on a 10-0 run, Iowa quickly took the lead, ending the first quarter with a 13 point lead.
Westchester cut Iowa’s lead to three in the second quarter but the Energy promptly took back control with another run on the Knicks, going 9-0. Both teams struggled from beyond the arc with a dual 1-for-6 effort as the teams went into the half, Iowa up 55-45.
The three point struggles followed the teams into the third, but Iowa found footing in the paint shooting 61 percent and held on to the lead for the entire quarter. The Energy found their biggest lead of the night with 20 points over Westchester early in the fourth. Capitalizing on 23 second chance points in the game, Iowa went on to take the game 102-87 over Westchester.
Durrell Summers paced the Knicks with 22 points, nabbing six steals and four rebounds. Jordan Bachynski and Ben Strong (Red Lake Nation)each ended with 14 points. Strong grabbed the double-double with 10 rebounds, while Bachynski was just short of a triple-double with nine rebounds and eight blocks, the latter a new franchise high.
Energy center Willie Reed finished with a game-high 32 points, notching a double-double with another game-high 17 rebounds. Reed also posted four blocks. Damien Wilkens ended with 19 points, six rebounds, and three steals while Larry Owens found a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds.
The Westchester Knicks will face the Delaware 87ers, the Philadelphia 76ers’ affiliate, for the final road game of the inaugural season on Friday, April 4. The game will be broadcast live on MSG 2 and the D-League’s YouTube channel beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET.
